Climacteric symptoms refer to the symptoms caused by the decreased secretion of male or female hormones. For women in particular, climacteric diseases occur for about 2-10 years around menopause due to a decrease in the ovaries' production of estrogen and cause such symptoms as high fever, sweating, insomnia, depression, urinary incontinence, pain, osteoporosis, myocardial infarction, stroke and hypertension.
Osteoporosis, which is the most representative disease among the climacteric symptoms, refers to a symptom where total bone mass decreases due to increased activity of osteoclasts as compared to that of osteoblasts. The onset of osteoporosis leads to decreased width of cortical bone, expansion of the marrow cavity and decrease in bone density, making the bone more porous. The physical strength of bone is decreased with the progress of osteoporosis, resulting in back pain and joint pain and making the bone break easily even by a slight impact.
For prevention and treatment of the climacteric symptoms, hormone replacement therapy, nonsteroidal drugs, pharmacotherapies for treatment of osteoporosis, or the like have been developed. At present, the hormone replacement therapy is used as the most effective method. However, prolonged hormone administration is known to cause side effects such as increased risk of cancer, headache, weight gain, etc. Accordingly, development of a therapeutic agent derived from a naturally occurring substance, which is safer and more effective, is urgently needed.